Chattanooga woman arrested for TennCare fraud

Chattanooga woman arrested for TennCare fraud

February 14th, 2012by Staff Report in Local - Breaking News

A Chattanooga woman has been arrested after state officials said she tried to forge a prescription and use TennCare funds to pay for drugs.

Detrice Ann Moon, 42, of Chattanooga, has been indicted on one count of TennCare fraud and one count of attempting to obtain a controlled substance by fraud, according to a news release from the state's Office of Inspector General.

The indictment accuses Moon of altering a doctor's prescription by adding the painkiller Lortab to the prescription, and attempting to use TennCare to pay for the drugs.

"Prescription drug fraud takes many forms such as altering a prescription to increase the quantity or adding an additional drug," Inspector General Deborah Y. Faulkner said in the release.

TennCare fraud can carry a sentence of up to two years in prison, and attempting to obtain a controlled substance is punishable by two to four years in prison, the release said.

The Office of Inspector General -which is separate from TennCare - began full operation in February 2005 and has investigated cases leading to over $3.5 million paid in restitution and recoupment to TennCare, with a total estimated cost avoidance of over $173 million for the TennCare program, according to latest figures from the inspector general.

Anyone can report suspected TennCare fraud by calling 1-800-433-3982 toll-free from anywhere in Tennessee, or log on to www.tn.gov/tnoig http://www.tn.gov/tnoig and follow the prompts that read "Report TennCare Fraud."